The SEAL's Secret Heirs by Kat Cantrell Page B

to make some contacts there,” she continued, and rearranged her hair with a practiced twirl. “We should go together. Like a business trip, but stay overnight and take in the sights. Maybe hit a bar in Sundance Square?”
    First half of that? Great plan. Spot-on. Second half was so not a good idea, Kyle couldn’t even begin to count the ways it wasn’t a good idea. But he had to tread carefully. Wade Ranch couldn’t afford for Kyle to antagonize another employee into quitting. Liam still hadn’t replaced Danny Spencer, and Kyle was starting to worry his brother was going to announce that he’d decided Kyle should be the ranch manager.
    â€œI like the way you think,” he allowed. “You’re clearly the brains of this operation.”
    She batted her lashes with a practiced laugh, leaning forward to increase the gap at her cleavage. “You’re such a flatterer. Go on.”
    Since it didn’t feel appropriate for the boss to be staring down the front of his employee’s blouse, no matter how obvious she was making it that she expected him to, Kyle glanced over Emma Jane’s shoulder to the window. And spied the exact person he’d been hoping to see. Grace . Finally.
    He’d been starting to wonder if she was planning to avoid him for the next ten years. From the corner of his eye, he watched her park her green Toyota in the small clearing outside the barn and walk the short path to the door. His peripheral vision was sharp enough to see a sniper in a bell tower at the edge of a village—or one social worker with hair the color of summer wheat at sunset, who had recently asked Kyle to give her space.
    â€œNo, really,” he insisted as he focused on Emma Jane again. Grace had just entered the barn, judging by the sound of the footsteps coming toward his office, which he easily recognized as hers. “You’ve been handling cattle sales for what, almost a year now? Your numbers are impressive. Clearly you know your stuff.”
    Or she knew how to stick her breasts in a prospective buyer’s face. Honestly, there was no law against it, and he didn’t care how she sold cattle as long as she did her job. Just as there was no law against letting Grace think there was more going on here in his office than there actually was.
    She wanted space, didn’t she? Couldn’t give a woman any more space than to pretend he’d moved on to another one. If he timed it right, Grace would get an eyeful of exactly how much space he was giving her. He treated Emma Jane to a wide smile and put an elbow on the desk, right by her knee.
    Emma Jane lit up, just as Grace appeared in the open doorway of his office.
    â€œThanks, sweetie.” Emma Jane smiled and ran one hand up his arm provocatively. He didn’t remove it. “That’s the nicest compliment anyone’s ever given me.”
    Grace halted as if she’d been slapped. That’s when he turned his head to meet her gaze, acknowledging her presence, just in case she’d gotten it into her head to flee. She was right where he wanted her.
    â€œAm I interrupting?” Grace asked drily, and Emma Jane jerked back guiltily as she figured out they weren’t alone anymore.
    Yes , thank God. He’d have to deal with Emma Jane at some point, but he couldn’t lie—he’d much rather have Grace sitting on his desk and leaning over strategically any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
    â€œNot at all.” Kyle stood with a dismissive nod at Emma Jane, whose usefulness had just come to an end. “We were just talking about how to increase our contact list in the Fort Worth area. We can pick it up later.”
    â€œWe sure can,” Emma Jane purred, and then shot Grace a dirty look as she flounced from the room.
    â€œThat was cozy,” Grace commented once the sales manager was out of earshot. Her face was blank, but her tone had an undercurrent in it that he